Drug Addiction Among Young People Essay Example for Free

Drug Addiction Among Young People Essay Many young people today get addicted to drugs – they become dependant on various types of mind-altering or stimulating medicines or illegal ones. Addiction often comes hand-in-hand with narcotic effects, whether they are strong or light. It is only a question of time when you get addicted. You gradually become destroyed on all the levels of your health. And this is sad. It turns out to be sadder when you come to know that typical age range of drug addicts is from 15 to 30 years. People of this age represent the main working group in a country, they are both core and roots of a society. The addiction is also wide-spread geographically – you can find people having problems with drugs everywhere, not only in low-life countries, but in well-developed ones too. First of all, young people are especially vulnerable to different sorts of illegal things. Usually it all starts in schools. Children from problematic backgrounds often go into alcohol and then into drugs. First comes the psychological addiction and then physical – you want and you need. They destroy you and then destroy you harder as you get more tolerant to substances. The biggest group of addicts are students as they get off their families and there is no one over them to control. Plus, the spirit of freedom often blinds them and then they cannot get rid of their addiction. The life of addicts becomes spoiled in all spheres – social, as they need to communicate with other addicts, they lose their contacts with families and friends; economical – as they spend all their money on drugs (which are usually very expensive), addicts start to earn their money illegally (running rackets, prostitution, etc.) – all these problems are incidental if to compare them to health problems – drugs are primary dangerous to people health. Opiates like heroin are the most murderous drugs – they waste away your physical resources and supress your hearts work. Heroin is even more dangerous as the form of injections is the most appropriate for achieving  the narcotic effect. Here comes the AIDS. This disease is often called epidemy of our century as there is no treatment and effects are hard to resist and it is lethal.

The Movie Catch Me If You Can Film Studies Essay

The Movie Catch Me If You Can Film Studies Essay A confidence artist is somebody who exploits a person in order to obtain something of value for free or next to nothing. The first known con man was in England in 1849 when an American would ask strangers if they had the confidence to give him their watches, he would then run away with the object. Con artists usually have clever schemes, and have devised scams to rob victims as quickly and easily as possible. A very important factor for the artist is to gain the confidence of the victim, which was something Frank Abagnale did very well. By wearing the pilots uniform he received respect and admiration from those around him, after all, why would a pilot be scamming? Slide 2 Book Quote A Quote from the Book: Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, impostors, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilots uniform and co-piloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six countries and all fifty states as The Skywayman, Abagnale lived a lavish life on the fly until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nations leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades and ingenious escapes including one from an airplane make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit. From the back cover of the book Catch Me If You Can The movie Catch Me If You Can is very loosely based on the novel. There are several differences which make the two works very unalike. The movie shuffles around the events of the novel and even adds some cons which Frank never performed, like posing as a French teacher. The film also puts more emphasis on the FBI who are chasing Frank while the novel portrays Frank as almost unstoppable until he is finally caught in France. Slide 3 Forgery Quotes The Real Story: Frank conned his way into getting a pilots uniform and forged a FAA document, and he was still only 17. He deadheaded all over America while illegally withdrawing money from hundreds of banks. Frank was using a fake name of Frank Williams, and after a bit, he decided to settle down, and bought a flat in Atlanta. There he met a doctor, and was temporarily hired as a pediatrician, still without completing high school. Frank stayed there for almost a year, before someone else came to claim the job. He then flew to the southern part of the U.S., and became an official lawyer, with a fake diploma from Harvard, and passed the bar exam on his third and final try. He left after 9 months and became a university professor specializing in sociology in Utah, where he taught summer classes. While posing as a professional, Frank never cashed a fake check. Franks criminal career was set into motion at the age of 16 when his parents divorced. While living with his successful father, he found out that his dad did a lot of drinking. This partly caused Abagnales decision to hang around the wrong kids, and one day he got in trouble for stealing a car. Frank Sr. bailed out his mischievous son, and when Frank turned 16, his father bought him a car. This car, an old Ford, led Frank to his ultimate downfall; his love for promiscuous women. Frank needed money because being with women was expensive, and by using a gas card he scammed his father of $3,400, which was valued at much more during the 1960s than it is today. After traveling the States for a little longer and storing conned cash in safe boxes, Frank went to Europe, and started paperhanging there as well. He came up with a fake airline crew, and toured for a summer, while exploiting banks. After bring caught Frank rotted in a French prison for 6 months before being transferred to a Swedish jail. Frank was eventually deported to the States, where he escaped, only to be caught months later. SLIDE 4 Movie Clip The Themes behind the Story: Broken Homes The most important theme in Catch Me If You Can is how a troubled childhood can drastically affect ones life. Franks parents divorced when he was 14 years old, leaving Frank to decide if he would like to live with either his mother or his father. He chose the latter because of two reasons, the first because he was more fond of his father, and the second because his other brothers had elected to live with his mom. Because of Franks broken family, he felt like he had to do something drastic to attract attention and draw his parents back together. Frank started hanging around with some loose-end kids from his neighborhood, and quickly became a juvenile delinquent by swiping candy and sneaking into movies. Little did he know he was on the fast track to become one of the most recognized con artists around the world. Identity As Frank struggles with coping with living alone while on the run from both his family and the police, he also struggles to find who he truly is. Posing as different professionals and using different names, Frank finds it difficult lying to those who are close to him and who he has built relationships with. Franks low point of struggling to find his identity was when he told Rosalie, the woman he was engaged to, that he was not actually an airplane pilot but a con artist. The next day when Frank went to visit his wife-to-be, a FBI car was in the driveway and Frank quickly had to take a flight across the country, never to see Rosalie again. Addiction While trying to find his own identity, Frank develops an addiction for charming beautiful women. Frank started conning money so he was able to take women out on dates and buy them nice gifts, and as he became more dependent on his addiction he brought his crime to the next level. Most of Franks success depended on his lady friends because he would spend nights at their houses will he was on the run, even years after he had last been in touch with him. Franks addiction pushed him further and further down the path of crime until there was no return, and even then is pushed him a step further making him the most wanted con artist in the world. The Realities of the Situation: This movie was set in the 1960s, when technology was still very basic. This allowed Frank to pass his fake checks much more easily, and allowing him more time to escape authorities. It also provided Frank with the ability to create fake diplomas and not be caught, since there were not any easily accessible computerized records of who had graduated from certain places. Also, he could create a fake passport, but now that is extremely difficult, especially after the increased security since the 9-11 attack. At this day in age, it would take much more than some glue-on numbers and a photocopier to create the documents necessary to perform Franks crimes. Slide 5 Story Pictures A Bit More on What Actually Happened: Frank Abagnale Junior was raised in Bronxville, New York by his family. When Frank ran away, he traveled all over the U.S.A. posing as a Pan Am. Pilot and passing bad checks. He visited cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, as well as many others, eventually becoming a wanted criminal in all 50 States. Frank became a doctor when he felt it unsafe to continue being a pilot, and moved to a resort, River Bend, in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resided for approximately a year. Once a replacement doctor was found, he relocated to the capital of a southern state, posing as a lawyer graduated from Harvard. When a real Harvard graduate started poking around into Franks Harvard experience, he fled and toured the western states before settling down in Ohio. Here, Abagnale became a sociology teacher at a University for a semester. When his teaching time was up, Frank flew to California, and he went back to his paperhanging tricks. Abagnale got caught up with a woman in San Fransisco, and was there for a while, until confessing who he was, and fleeing and touring the western states. He kept traveling America before going to Mexico, and obtaining a fake passport there, which allowed him to travel out of the country. Frank traveled over to Europe, and visited countries such as England, Italy and France. He was eventually caught in France, after settling down in Montpelier. He was thrown into a crammed, black, 4x4x4 cubicle for 6 months, before being transferred into a nicer Swedish prison for an additional 6 months. He was transferred back to the U.S.A. where he escaped from his plane, and managed to evade the FBI for multiple months, before being captured. Slide 6 The Real Frank The Real Frank Abagnale: Frank was born on April 27, 1948 in Bronxville, New York to Paulette and Frank Abagnale Senior. They divorced when Frank was 14, and Frank was the only child of 4 who was taken into custody by his father. Franks father used Frank to try to reunite their family, but after the hearing, Frank Jr. ran away, never to see his father again. Frank became a world class criminal, posing as a pilot, pediatrician, lawyer, and sociology teacher. He continued running from police, and kept cashing bad checks. Frank eventually became wanted in 26 different countries and all 50 States. He was eventually caught after years of running, and rotted in a French prison for 6 months. He was then transferred to a Swedish jail, and released to an American prison, where he spent another 4 years. He was released on patrol in Texas, and after several failed jobs (such as grocer and cook) due to background checks, he decided to try and help banks prevent crooks from paperhanging them. One year after becoming legitimate, Frank married a woman named Kelly, and they now have 3 sons, Scott, Chris, and Sean. Frank teaches at the FBI Academy, and owns Abagnale and Associates. He is a legitimate millionaire, and approximately 14,000 institutes currently use Franks fraud-prevention methods. Franks has written 3 other books in addition to Catch Me If You Can. He has appeared on numerous television shows, and as of spring, 2011, and he now has a musical about his life.

Movie: The Last Supper Essay -- Last Supper Film Movie Movies Essays

Movie: The Last Supper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Last Supper, by Dan Rosen, supposedly dares to take on deep subjects in a vein of sarcastic humor. But, what it says is that liberals, because of their belief, have the right to pass death sentences on opponents. The story was amusing at times and there was some comedy in the film, but it didn't really go anywhere. The most famous actor in the film was Mark Harmon, and they showed him for about one minute, before he got killed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movie takes place in Ames, Iowa. The film is about five liberal graduate students living together, (three males and two females) that enjoy inviting different guest over every Sunday for dinner. The students indulge their sense of superiority by inviting those that they regard as being less enlightened. They enjoy having different types of discussions dealing with all different types of topics. Their first guest that we see, ends up being a trucker who gives one of the five students a lift home because his car broke down. They invite the trucker in to eat, because they had an extra seat at the table and their originally invited guest could not make it for dinner. The trucker ends up being an anti-Semite and he is also an ex-marine. Immediately after the trucker sits down at the table to eat he starts pointing out to the five students that he hates Jews and that they always try to bargain down anything that they buy. All five of the students are stunned by the remarks that the trucker is making, especially one of the students that is Jewish. They all get into a heated argument and the trucker goes out of control; in addition, he grabs the Jewish student and puts a knife to his throat. They are all shocked by this and they immediately attempt to calm the trucker down. He releases the Jewish student and then breaks an arm of another student who was trying to free the Jewish student. The Jewish student picks up a butcher's knife and stabs the trucker in the back, which eventually kills the trucker. At this point the movie picks up a little. They all begin to contemplate about what to do with the body. They decide on burying the body in the back yard. They said it would cause a lot of problems if they contacted the police. They all agreed at this time that killing the trucker was only good for society. After they had buried the trucker they all sat down and the... ...dents drink and they all die. Nicola Machiavelli had a very interesting theory about his belief in having power, "By any means necessary." That is exactly what these liberal students did in order for them to have happiness. I think that in society most of us try to follow the Machiavellian theory on trying to do anything and everything possible in order for ourselves to survive. Machiavelli hoped that, "by helping the Prince rule more effectively, he might help Italy achieve the greatness he hoped for." Machiavelli believed that he didn't need to be appointed leader to run things in Italy back then. These student are the same, they believed that through killing off these few people that they thought were a danger to society, that it was going to make a difference in our government. Maybe it's a good thing that Machiavelli wasn't the actual leader of Italy, because if these five liberal students were leaders of this country we would have nothing but chaos. I think that this film probably would have made more money as a b ook and not a film. Sources Cited Nicola Machiavelli information was located on the Internet at http://rhf.bradley.edu/~liberty/mach.html.

life :: essays research papers

In the Bible, a book meant to be the word of God, condemns such things as murder, adultery and theft. I find it hard to believe that an all-powerful, all-knowing, infinitely-good being that â€Å"created† this world and everything in it would allow any of these things to occur. He would not only condemn them in an ancient book, but abolish them altogether along with any other things evil. If God is supposed to be the â€Å"heavenly father† wouldn't he want and impose onto his children his goodness and weed out all evil? Aquinas also shows this non-existence through Objective 2 where he writes how it is expecting too much for something that can be accounted for be a few principles has been produced by many. There are other principles that can account for everything we see in our world supposing God did not exist. All things can be reduced to one principle, that of nature and therefore there is no need to suppose God's existence. Once more I agree with his rationale of this subject, for it is logical to believe in a simple, visible, measurable concept such as the principle of nature, instead of something so complex it is near in-conceivable, and not able to be seen or measured. Nature could have accounted for the gradual development of mankind and scientific theories have given us explanations for the existence of nature and proof of this gradual development. Our planet's creation has been explained as a result of â€Å"The Big Bang† and man's development from a single-cellular organism to the multi-cellular, intelligent man of today by evolution. I agree with both of Thomas Aquinas' Objectives and it is mainly because of these two arguments that I, myself do not believe in the existence of

Essay --

Ever since our minds were old enough to comprehend three syllable words, we've been told to be original. Originality by definition means the ability to think independently or creatively. Such a simple task it seems but so many of us find it extremely difficult to fulfill. Staying true to yourself and embracing your individuality isn't a task or concept all will grasp. To be yourself means to embrace and acknowledge that no one else in this universe is just like you and that conforming to their standards will have to take a backseat to your happiness. Only the strong minded can do this and this revelation won't take a day or even a year, but it will embark you on a lifelong journey. "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" Ralph Waldo Emerson. We live in a world where society tells you to be yourself and then judges you. We love in a constant fear of being judged or called a weirdo. Though the barons that hold us to this conformity are strong, many manage to break through. No other person in this universe is exactly like you. Everyone has a different quality to bring to the table and that is what makes out world such a diverse place. Embracing your assets to society and not trying to imitate someone else will not only change your outlook on certain situations but on your life as a whole. The phrase only the strong will survive applies to all aspects of life, including individuality. To be able to stand up for who you are and not let the opinions of the world faze you takes a strong mind and a strong spirit. Having a true sense of self is a life long journey and some people reach it more quickly than others. Some reach this place of nirvana while still in thei... ...ted. There are many countries that frown upon standing out to the extent of the Americans. In some Middle Eastern cultures, women are required to cover their bodies from head to toe. They dress in dark clothing so that little attention is drawn to them, if any at all. Differing from the Middle Eastern culture, American people often dress to the extreme; showing them off as if the world is always watching them. Although one covers their body with a black hijab and another prances around in a rainbow dress, the one covered is not any less of an individual as the one standing out physically. In conclusion, we as a society have to realize that individuality goes much deeper than material things and that it is okay to be different. Conforming to what society feels you should do will not only be detrimental to our growth as humans but as a world community as well.

The Russian Revolution, c. 1910 – 1924, Sources Question

1) This question is about Russia before 1914. Look carefully at sources (A) to (F) and then answer questions (a) to (d) below. a) Study source A. What can you learn from source A about the situation in Russia before 1914? From source A we can learn that the situation in Russia before 1914 was very alarming. Strikes went up from 2000 in 1912 to 4000 in 1914. Some strikers demanded trade union rights and more and more people were becoming involved with fights with the government. 270 miners were shot dead during the strikes in Lena goldfields. b) Study sources A, B and C. i) Does source C support the evidence of sources A and B about the situation in Russia before 1914? Explain your answer. Source C supports the evidence of source A by saying that there was an increase of tension. This is shown in source a by the increasing amount of strikes and the fact that many people had been shot during the Lena goldfield massacre. Source C also supports source A because it shows that more and more people were involved in fights with the government, as source C says, ‘People can be heard speaking of the government in the sharpest of tones.' Source C supports the evidence of source B because the number of strikes and strikers in factories increased during 1910 and 1914, again, as source C says, ‘People can be heard speaking of the government in the sharpest of tones.' ii) Why were there many strikers in Russia in the years 1910-1914? Use sources A, B and C, and your own knowledge, to explain your answer. There were there many strikers in Russia in the years 1910-1914 because people were firstly becoming less scared of the Okhrana, so they were not very afraid to voice their opinion. A lot of people may not have liked how the government was running Russia; the only way they would be heard would have been through a strike. More people were also coming together, as most of them worked in horrible working conditions, with very little pay, long hours and a disturbing working environment, they must have decided to go on strike. Sales of vodka, food and fuel dropped drastically, this may have also cased many strikes as many people would have needed the money from these sales. Also, from source B we see that in 1910 the number of strikers in factories was 222, in 1914 the number of strikers in factories was 3534. The increase in strikers in factories from 1910 to 1914 may have been caused by the increased size of the factories. The factories must have employed more people thought 1910 and 19 14, so the number of strikers must obviously increase. C) Study sources D and E. How useful are sources D and E as evidence of support for the Russian monarchy? Source D: Source D shows that the ordinary people of Russia supported the Tsar wherever he went, although the public may have been doing this so the Tsar and his people will not give them a hard time, it was dangerous for the public to express their true feelings. The support shown was only a small percentage of the population, it was emotional support. The country saw the monarchy as a religion, so they have always been told to worship it. Source D is a reliable source because firstly the writer is the Tsar's sister, she was an eyewitness. Secondly, she was writing in her private diary, there would be no reason for her to lie or exaggerate anything. Also, she would have written about these events a night (after they had happened) and so she may have only been picking out the good bits and forgetting the bad bits. Source E: Source E is useful in showing support for the Russian monarchy. It shows that faith in the government is decreasing and that a revolution is becoming more likely. The writer of this source, Alexander Guchkov was the leader of the Octobrists, a party basically loyal to the Tsar and his government. If the leader of a loyal party to the Tsar and his government saw and said that faith in the government was decreasing and revolution was very likely, then it would have been true. Source E's writer, Alexander Guchkov is a more objective person than the writer of source D, the Tsar's sister who was sheltered in Russian courts and biased in the Tsar's favor. d) Study all the sources. ‘There was widespread support in Russia for the Tsar before 1914.' Use the sources, and your own knowledge, to explain whether you agree with this view. Sources A and B show that there was an increase in strikes and strikes in factories during 1910 to 1914. However, it gives a limited answer to the statement above as it mainly looks at the industrial sector. Sources C and E show that even a reporter of the Okhrana and a leader of the Octobrists (both loyal parties to the Tsar) think that the support for the Tsar is decreasing. This makes a revolution more and more likely. Sources D and F show that many people came out to see the Tsar, however, they may have done this out of curiosity as the Tsar would have been something to see, not because they supported the Tsar. They also may have come out to see the Tsar because they were scared that if they did not come out to see and appear to be supporting the Tsar, they might get into trouble with the government. Sometimes people feel loyalty to the institution, but the may not like how the government was running the country, a lot of people would have been in this possession during this time. I do not think there was widespread support in Russia for the Tsar before 1914. This is because as sources D and F shows that the ordinary people of Russia appeared supported the Tsar wherever he went, although I think that the public may have been doing this so the Tsar and his people will not give them a hard time, I believe that it was dangerous for the public to express their true feelings. Sources D and E also only a small percentage of the population of Russia, it cannot be mistaken for the majority of the Russian population. The Tsar also failed to face the peasants, poverty and workers. As the 3 categories were fitted by most of Russia's population, the Tsar was not very popular. The Tsar mainly supported the rich landowning class that was a very small percentage of the Russian population who did not need the Tsar very much. The people who needed the Tsar were the poor peasants with large hungry families (most of the Russian population), however the Tsar did not help them. This made a lot of people not to want to support the Tsar as he did not help the people in need. The Tsar was a autocratic ruler, this meant that he had complete and absolute power of Russia. A lot of people would not have liked this so the would not have really supported the Tsar.

The World from Brown’s Lounge

With The World from Brown's Lounge: An Ethnography of Black Middle-Class Play Michael J. Bell provides a narrative and interpretation of the play behavior of middle class blacks within the context of Brown's Lounge, a neighborhood bar in West Philadelphia. At the time he did his field research at Brown's, Bell was a white, male, doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. The book appears to be either his original dissertation or a somewhat edited dissertation.The prose is accessible and not marked by the frequent subordinate clauses and qualification of statements that mars a good deal of academic writing (Bell xi, 1-7). According to Bell The World from Brown's Lounge is a â€Å"study in black American folklore† (Bell ix). However he does not use the word folklore in the traditional sense of myths, tales, and traditions usually passed on orally or through folk art, but rather as the â€Å"artistic communication . . . used by ordinary people . . .[that] links us tog ether in our day-to-day interactions† (Bell ix). This folklore is studied in context, not merely as an academic exercise that might be done by reading a textbook about the folk beliefs of a people without regard to their lives. Bell describes what he saw in Brown's and claims that it is folklore but pointedly refuses engage in an argument as to whether or not the material in the book is in fact folklore. For the purposes of The World from Brown's Lounge the reader must assume that the book is folklore.Frankly, this distinction seems artificial; the text can and should be judged on its methodology and analysis and not on attempts to fit the book to a particular niche genre. Bell claims that the black middle class is (or at least was at the time the book was written) largely ignored in research with the focus being on the behavior and lifestyle of the poorer class. Even when the middle class has been addressed it has tended to interview individuals who â€Å"exemplified† their race and not observe members of the black middle class acting with each other.In essence Bell contends that at that time the research was done, the literature failed to recognize that the black middle class existed at all (Bell 1-5). The methodology Bell used was to sit in Brown's Bar at various times throughout the day, observing the patrons and participating in their interactions for a period of about eighteen months beginning in 1972. The observation periods were typically three hours each. Bell describes himself as an active participant as he engaged in the discussions that occurred at Brown's as well as participating in the consumption of alcohol.The regular patrons were aware of what he was doing and that descriptions of their activities might appear in his doctoral dissertation and possible a subsequent book. Bell recorded the conversations that occurred so that he might study them later. In addition any individual who wished to could listen to any tapes, but no one cho se to do so. Although Bell was aware that his presence in the â€Å"black† bar would affect the patrons, by being up front with them he hoped to minimize his affects on the patrons.In the process Bell did extended interviews with some of the key patrons (Bell 1-5). Interestingly he received a grant to engage in this research, which is good work if you can get it. Bell intended that his work describe how the day-to-day activities in a neighborhood bar reflect the values of the members of the neighborhood. He claims the study describes how the activities at Brown's allow the patrons to conform to â€Å"their desire to create and live within a world that allows them to be both black and middle class† (Bell 5).To do this he describes interactions between the patrons, at times actually quoting entire conversations and then attempts to classify and analyze them. These conversations are, at times, interesting, but are common to many social situations and not indications of mi ddle class black behavior in the 1970s. Bell tries to make them so however. He claims that this behavior is an example of middle class blacks playing with each other verbally and non-verbally by â€Å"talking shit,† â€Å"styling,† and â€Å"profiling† (Bell). Bell writes that these conversations are improvisations with deep, sophisticated meaning for middle class blacks.For example in a discussion on page 110 and analyzed on page 111 Bell offers the following. The bartender Harriet asks the customers generally, â€Å"was a . . . was a . . . (four-second silence) Jimmy Sailor in here yesterday? † One of the patrons, Gill replies, â€Å"I didn't see him. † From these two sentences Bell draws the following analysis. Harriet was seeking direct information. Gill responded in the same fashion as â€Å"if it were a request for information and nothing else. † This is straightforward enough and patently obvious.However Bell is not satisfied with thi s explanation and seeks a deeper meaning, â€Å"[i]n asking after Jimmy, Harriet made it clear that she believed that it was appropriate for her to know his whereabouts. † One feels the need to ask why Bell decide would emphasize such a point. Fundamentally he may be correct, but a simpler, more straightforward conclusion seems to be preferable; Harriet was curious about Jimmy. It is difficult to believe that at anytime during this process that Harriet consciously assumed it was proper for her to know where Jimmy was the day before.Similarly, Bell analyzes other conversations throughout the book. Instead of taking the discussions at face value Bell appears to believe each â€Å"interaction is a continuous exchange of images of self—of who and what one is—in order to convince the others present that all present are capable of acting coherently and correctly† (Bell 8). This belief implies that each person at Brown's is taking part in an improvisation perfor mance determined to establish himself as an individual person and as a member of the group.In reality, it is far more likely that such conversations at Brown's and similar ones at other bars and coffee shops are just that, conversations between people trying to relax and have a good time. The book suffers from a variety of problems besides the over analysis mentioned above. While reading the book one feels that Bell was describing a species that he is completely unrelated to in the same way that a zoologist might describe the behavior of a species of bird or mammal.Although the motivation for this distance appears to be an attempt to be as neutral as possible, certainly a laudable goal, when Bell describes or analyzes the activities in Brown's and fails to place them within the contact of being middle class, black, or even human the book suffers. In fact, Bell states this is what he is doing in the preface, instead of limiting his study to a particular ethnic group, age group, or oc cupation Bell defines his study to a particular place, Brown's (Bell x). This tightly focused limitation seems to greatly restrict the relevance of Bell's work to other situations or people.Despite this self-imposed limitation, Bell makes frequent references to the behavior the middle class, though in Brown's it is not the middle class, it is the only class. Bell's research lacks a clearly defined identity. Although Bell purports to be providing a description of description of the black middle class at play, he provides no insight as to how the behavior of the middle class patrons differs from or is similar to the behavior of lower or upper class blacks as well as the behavior of classes of other races in their own neighborhood bar.Much of the behavior Bell describes seems to be no different than one might see in any local bar or coffee shop for even by watching a rerun of the television comedy Cheers. As pointed out in â€Å"A Note on the Author† in the last page of the book , Bell received his PhD and at the time of publication was an associate professor of English and folklore at Wayne State University. In addition he has published a variety of articles on urban folklore in a number of scholarly journals.A quick search of the databases at Questia reveal a number of books that referred to The World from Brown's Lounge, but for the most parts these were merely listings in the bibliographies at the back of these books, although Loic Wacquant refers to it in 2004 as a â€Å"fine book† in Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer (181). All in all, Bell has adequate, if not impressive academic credentials in this area. The book could do with more careful editing. Although naturally the conversation among the patrons should not be edited, when Bell is providing narrative he should maintain consistent, grammatically correct standards.An example of a failure to do so is his inconsistent of his treatment of some words. For example, the term â€Å"m iddle-class† appears in the book's title and on page 1 and â€Å"middle class† on page 5 even though both are used to describe the same thing. Occasionally Bell uses questionable grammatical constructions that should be corrected as well. To his credit, Bell uses occasional inline citations and provides an extensive bibliography that is useful. The World from Brown's Lounge has no index, a feature that would prove useful to students and scholars using the text for literary searches.Due to the unusual meanings of many of the words used in the context of Brown's a glossary would be helpful as well. Ultimately the book is not particularly satisfying. Perhaps in 1972 when the research was done or in 1983 when the book was published the book had more impact, but in today's world The World from Brown's Lounge seems remarkably flat and uninteresting. One questions just what if anything Bell contributed to anthropological academic knowledge that justified his receiving a PhD wi th this dissertation supporting his candidacy, much less what justified its subsequent publication as a book.Although some of the play was interesting to read, Bell's over analysis reduced it the trivial. Bell's attempts to provide significance to ordinary conversations in a bar read more like long academic stretches in hopes of securing a doctorate than to do meaningful work. Works Cited Bell, Michael J. The World from Brown's Lounge: An Ethnography of Black Middle-Class Play. Urbana, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1983 Wacquant, Loic. Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.